Hailstorm
by DemeterChild
Summary: The monkey team had never guessed Mandarin would try to return to the good side. And they hadn't guessed the war would come so soon. Oh, well.
1. Chapter 1

Me: Okay, so this might be a bit stupid, but I hope it's pretty okay.

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The night quickly falls, overpowering the streetlights. Shugazoom city is silent, except for the occasional beep from cars on the highways. The monkey team is also at rest, looking forward to the next day. Just one thing: back in Skeleton King's new palace,

Mandarin is being thrown in the dungeon. Surprised? Probably not.

Some of you? Just maybe. But you'll never guess why.

He tried to release a prison break on people and other life forms SK had captured. He had returned to his old self, minus his missing robotic parts. His voice had gone down a bit deeper; he was more innocent and refused to do evil tasks that would put his old city in danger.

Somehow, he was becoming good again.

Somehow, this seemed impossible.

Somehow, it was just that story that would create the tension of choosing sides for Mandarin. Not to mention Shugazoom city, who saw the dark monkey as a threat for a long while, and would probably not trust him due to his status as the dark apprentice of the Skeleton King.

Now, let's take a look at the next day…

"You little scrap! I knew you were no better than your precious ex-allies since day one. I am quite the actor, am I not?" Skeleton King sneered, looking at Mandarin.

Mandarin let out a low growl, but didn't respond otherwise.

"Oh, so you appreciate the new five-star jail interior? It will be splattered with blood- your blood- soon enough. _Just the way I like it._"

This time, the simian did not respond at all. He merely tried to sit up. His shackles were tight and small, barely an inch off the dusty ground.

His feet were tied down, too; it was hard to even move.

Skeleton King left the cells in silence, shutting the large metal entrance loudly, and shaking the cells like a small tremor.

"He does not understand… he did at one point, though." Mandarin sighed, remembering The Alchemist for a brisk moment.

"I see now that I have made a mistake, and how it was my fault the evil demons got out to attack the Alchemist." Mandarin's voice dropped.

Then he shouted to the guard about the next meal.

The guard waved his hand to a menu on the side of the well-decorated cell. It read: Every 4 months.

Mandarin groaned.

And the Monkey Team…

"HA! Beat you again, kid." Sprx laughed, turning off the screen.

"I was talking to Otto for-" Chiro tried to explain, but then Sprx continued to gloat.

He just sighed, and ignored the red monkey. Chiro sat up and went up to his room, taking a nap.

In other words, nothing had really happened much.


	2. Chapter 2

Many weeks passed, battles fought, struggles, and the occasional chatter had taken up the time. The monkey team had been surprised not to see Mandarin, especially since he had been a large influence on the battles and hardships throughout the team's memory.

Mandarin was still in his cell, his belly full from his recent meal.

The Hyperforce had just settled for a nap, all tired out and keeping one eye open for likely chance that the monster alarm would beep and flash until the whole group settled in the command center.

All except Antauri, who had decided to meditate for the time being.

But the Skeleton King was training his formless to attack, preparing earlier than expected for a war. He gathered all his allies from around the galaxy, and constantly kept an eye on robots being made for the countless army men.

He had even hired some of The Skull Sorceress Valina's family members, of which he had located. He forced them to use their powers to help him.

Unfortunately, the monkeys were not prepared. They didn't have allies gathered at the moment, and Shugazoom was currently at peace, with no attacks to add much experience.

They weren't training much anymore, only occasionally, because they had all beat the highest levels possible.

But that was the only good thing.

Anyway, there were many things going on, including a series of snowstorms, and, following that, huge droughts affecting the planet.

The good side was being practically pelted with more problems than they could handle.

It just made things worse.

The world was a haze, battle after battle, and following that, a snowstorm, or drought.

A strange virus had spread out, and soon was considered an outbreak. Chiro had caught it, and they had to help him constantly. Otto had started having symptoms, and Sprx overloaded himself, taking care of chores and patrols, though it may seem surprising.

The world seemed crazy, things not in order, and everyone not acting normal.

Only Skeleton King and his armies weren't bothered with the city's long list of problems.

They continued training, practicing, and being evil. He was too busy training to send out attacks anymore, which soon made the team suspicious.

Sprx was out with Gibson and Nova on an afternoon patrol, and everyone else was gathered in the command center, watching the egg-shell white walls gleam in the electric light.

Antauri stood quietly. "Team, we have not seen any attacks for a period of many weeks now, and I believe Skeleton King is signaling war."

The remainder of the group stared at the wise monkey with wide eyes.

"I don't think we have much time, and it is time we prepare, if even just a bit. He will come at the worst possible time, of that I am sure."

Soon the patrol returned, saying nothing. They gathered again, and were working on sending out signals to allies, as Nova had done after Skeleton King's rebirth.

Otto limped to his room to gather the anti-dead weapons, of which was gathering dust, and when he returned, they discussed battle plans.

"This isn't a good time, and it's pretty early." Sprx pointed out.

"I believe so." Antauri murmured.

The team went to bed early, and had a careful night's rest. They knew the battle was just on the horizon now; it was a matter of time.

It seemed the evil forces had the upper hand… for now.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the sickness that hung in the air, the citizens practiced fighting skills, meditation, and crafting metal weapons, plus a few defense classes and a special area set for resting.

Month followed month, and soon the many plagues disappeared, medicine delivered from allies around the galaxy, and everyone too busy to think at the point.

Skeleton King knew they were preparing back in Shugazoom. He smiled. He would wait, wait until they had prepared enough and were ready. Skeleton King wanted to accept the challenge.

Mandarin, who was still trapped, angrily thought that there would be no way to escape without a cruel punishment.

"But I have to get out… to help… to explain myself." Mandarin whispered coldly.

"To convince my family that I am no longer a threat. To tell them that I have returned, a spy without sneaking about." _I happen to know his full battle plan. _the simian thought silently.

But he knew that would be hopeless. Everyone in Shugazoom and beyond knew him as a bloodthirsty warrior, who, in turn, betrayed his allies and joined the dark side.

He would never be forgiven… never trusted. Mandarin would be thrown in another prison, if he escaped this one at all.

The partly innocent being that would be tortured when his intentions were nothing but trying to become what he once was… that was hopeless as well.

The flame of darkness had taken his soul, and that would never be forgotten, even if they accepted him. There would be hostility and mistrust.

Suddenly he wondered if coming back would be worth the effort.

They just _had _to forgive him, if they'd let him speak.

He sadly slumped down as far as he could, sighing. Maybe a few more days in the cellar would help him decide. Mandarin had to; it was a matter of time before the war began.

They would have an upper hand if they as well knew the battle plan.

They would forgive him… hopefully.

Hour after hour passed, and the hope inside his heart grew to the size of a thimble.

"They'd never." he sighed, sitting up.

Besides, if he didn't get out of here, he would be killed and tortured like the woman he had seen die at the hands of his old master.

And he had seen much worse come from the palm of the dark king.

"But what if they do?" he asked himself quietly after his thoughts had drained down.

Mandarin struggled against his prison's shingles, and kicked the iron bars blocking his escape.

"The wall that blocks trust, truth, and hope." the monkey muttered frustratedly.

He kicked, pulled, and kicked more, but he grew tired and slumped again. He was also worried that he would soon attract the guard's attention.

Back in the robot, the Monkey Team was wrapping up day 220 of training. It was almost a year ago that they had started preparing; and yet Antauri had said that war would come soon. Almost a year was nowhere near soon.

"Maybe he's waiting for us." Sprx suggested the next morning, where the team gathered for a treasured hour before training began once more.

"Yeah, and then we'll blast him to bits! KABLAMO!" Otto shrieked, gesturing his arms to represent an explosion, his lips tight and packed.

Antauri smiled in amusement, then calmly murmured: "Sprx's theory is most likely correct."

"It is?" Sprx said in surprise.

Antauri nodded wisely, his rare smile dissolving in thin air.

"Skeleton King knows we are outnumbered, that we are still preparing, while he waits in the shadows. He wants a challenge, though he is overconfident he will arise to victory."

Nova muttered, "That bone bag is _so _predictable."

Antauri looked at her. "Predictable? Quite so. Stupid? Most likely not, or we would have defeated him years ago."

Nova sighed. "I didn't say-"

Antauri just sat down, and they began their training a few minutes later.


	4. Chapter 4

Me: Hello! I'm kind of having a bad week, even though to everyone else involved it's perfectly fine… but anyway, here's chapter 4!

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Time passed on quietly once more, and soon, the war was raging on. Many were lost, many were incredibly wounded. Many more were still on the battlefield, fighting off and even greater force than expected. Gunshots rang out like a melody, and blood painted Shugazoom as if it were a large, white paper.

Night had fallen, and back in the Robot, Gibson was working on Medical business, and treating the wounded. He seemed overworked, so the team took shifts by taking wounded soldiers to the med. bay.

Sprx limped in, followed by a young man with deep, bleeding wounds on his arms, chest, and legs. He left a faint trace of blood with each step, the droplets making another painting of pain.

"Here's another one, Gibby." Sprx panted hoarsely. He stepped back out after the patient was settled, retrieving gun powder for the undead weapons on his way out.

"It's Nova's shift now." the simian muttered, disappearing.

Gibson acknowledged his words, and then got to work examining the man.

Otto ran across the city, retrieving the hurt for Nova to take back to Gibson. His eyes scanned the battle, and he eyed a woman who was leaning over, yelling in pain while helplessly shooting the formless around her.

The green monkey ran, and then shot down the formless with a swift attack. She smiled at him gratefully, and then followed him over to the robot.

Skeleton King grinned in satisfaction. _Soon the world will be mine for the taking… and I will expand my power across the Universe! These weaklings could never beat me. I was right for giving them a fighting chance… too bad they've shown they don't HAVE one!!_

_MUAHAHAHA!_

He was very enveloped in his thoughts, while he sat cackling on his throne.

Mandarin sighed. The war had begun, and he didn't even TRY to break out. "I'm hopeless." He muttered aloud.

The guard nodded. His voice was that of a strained, drunk cowboy. "You got that gosh darn right, you scum!"

The orange monkey shot a death glare at the guard, which silenced him.

_At least I still have power over SOMEONE…_

Mandarin glanced at the iron bars before him. Maybe he could trick the guard…?

The thought seemed as hopeless as ever. Even that stupid guard wouldn't fall for anything.

"I hope they succeed. I guess I'll have to wait."

"No." a voice said next to him.

"Who's there?!" Mandarin whispered urgently.

A face appeared out of the darkness… in the cell in front of him. The bars were extremely bent, as if someone strong had tried to break through, but practically failed. A small gap gaped like a giant mouth.

The creature's head was small, about the size of a grape. His eyes were smaller, and his mouth barely visible.

The simian had no idea what the body looked like. He recoiled in confusion.

The creature smiled. "I get that a lot in here. Anyway, as I was saying…"

Mandarin spat, "You filthy criminal! I don't belong here! I am perfectly innocent!"

The creature's eyes glowed with amusement. "Not really. I've heard about you. But like I was saying, don't wait. That's exactly what I did, and my planet is now under the control of the Skeleton King. I'm only here because I waited. I waited for my people to win… and they lost me, their commander, their teacher and source of determination and courage. I'm probably an outcast."

Mandarin was moved that a stranger who was insulted would tell him something like this.

At least he wasn't alone.

"So… any idea of how to get out?" the other captive asked.

Mandarin glared at him. "If I did, I would be long gone."

"…Oh, right. I KNEW THAT!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the wait!

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Mandarin found out that he had a lot in common with this captive, other than size, weight, name, etc…

Well, you get the point. As I was saying, they discussed their planets, their teams, their adventures, and soon it was late into the night.

The war back in Shugazoom was halted, and everyone was allowed rest until dawn.

Dried blood, bodies, gun powder, formless goo, and the usual dirt littered the streets.

The Super Robot was in bad shape; it was virtually destroyed, except for the torso tank.

Luckily, the monkey team found a tent and decided to share it for the time being; or at least until the damages to the robot could be fixed.

After treating their injuries and having a little snack, the team went off to sleep.

Other allies and enemies were scattered around in tents themselves, sharing what little food they had and sleeping in shifts.

It was Sprx's turn to guard the tent. He was extremely tired, yawning and blinking his eyes sleepily as he went around the tent and sat down when he saw no danger.

"This is boring." He muttered, but knew full well that the sleeping shifts and guarding the tent were as important as winning the battle at the moment, because it held all their maps, written plans, beds, food, water, and Gibson's medical equipment.

He sighed, and watched the stars twinkle in the sky. A few shooting stars whisked across the infinite sky, their tails of dust and ice waving as if they were saying hi.

He then looked down at his feet, and picked at the grass around the tent, feeling like he had nothing better to do. He went around the tent once more, seeing no threat at the moment.

As he sat down again, he began quietly whistling to pass the time.

Nova walked out of the tent a moment later, smiling. "It's my shift now, Sprx. Go get some sleep. Oh, and remind Antauri it's his turn after me."

Sprx nodded, glad to be able to get some rest.

He informed Antauri of his shift, and the silver monkey nodded, then closed his eyes and returned to his quiet snore.

Sprx lay down, and closed his eyes. He dreamed of sleeping.

After their chat, Mandarin and the captive exchanged a 'good night' and went to sleep in their cells.

The night was quiet, and the guards around him and the other cells were getting tired. They went off to get the night shift guards, closing the heavy metal doors behind them. Keys jingled in their pockets as they stumbled along, half-asleep.

This woke up Mandarin. The orange monkey gazed out at the night sky, quietly naming constellations and pinpointing stars he had seen on previous nights.

He thought it strange that he could remember them, but pushed that thought to the back of his mind, falling asleep a little bit after he located the northern star.

He also dreamt of sleeping.

And so you see what they have done so far. But remember; the war isn't over yet. See you in the next chapter, and have a great summer!


	6. Epilogue

This story is going a bit slow... *sigh*

Well, here's the action!

And yeah... the war is over. (See Chapter 5's ending to understand.)

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Epilogue

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Days and nights passed, and the world was a blur for both ends of the battlefield. The war had ended.

Many days and nights were spent to fix up the city and try to make things normal again, with no signs of Skeleton King threat.

He and his army had disappeared and never seemed to return, and so the Monkey Team lowered their patrols to once a day, even though they knew it might be a bad idea... and it wasn't.

Soon the world was quiet and peaceful, and everyone slowly began to forget about the previous battle.

Mandarin and the captive had escaped somehow, and made a team to help other planets with battles of their own, alongside helping out with Community Service on Shuggazoom.

The Monkey Team slowly began to forget, but certainly not as fast as the citizens.

Sprx was busy in his room with something, Nova was training with Otto, Antauri was meditating, and Gibson and Chiro were in Gibson's lab for an "experiment."

The days grew colder, and the city shifted into Winter.

Sitting by a virtual Fireplace, the Monkey Team relaxed with Hot Cocoa. Otto belted out Christmas Carols between sips of his cocoa and bites of gingerbread men. (He always ate the heads first, so picture a plate of gingerbread men with their heads bitten off.)

Antauri looked up and calmly said, "It's late. We better get some rest and put up the tree tomorrow."

Sprx groaned and disappeared up his transport tube.

Chiro grabbed his cup and took off a few minutes after Sprx, followed by Gibson and Nova.

Antauri got up, and Otto took his cocoa and cookies up to his room.

The silver simian pulled decorations out of a hidden box in Gibson's lab, and sat them by the newly-cut-down tree from the Shuggazoom Tree Farm.

He then sipped his cocoa and shot up his tube.

The following morning, Sprx was the first up, so he got to slip on the first few decorations. They had made sure that the first got to decorate first and the last got to put the star on top of the tree.

Antauri followed him in, adding garland and turning up Christmas Music on the Radio.

Gibson quietly entered, adding his share, then Chiro followed suit.

Nova, who was reluctant to decorate, was convinced somewhat by Sprx that she could punch him after she decorated- _if _she did, of course, which she did.

Otto, who came in last, was watched by the rest of the team as he gently took the star out of the box, shining it and placing it successfully on the top of the tree. The Christmas music blared as they gazed at the tree.

The city then shifted into Spring, and the snow melted. Nova rejoiced, mostly because it wasn't freezing outside anymore.

And life continued on, but the next battle would be the city's last.

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Thanks so much for staying for the end! I will make a sequel eventually. See ya then! ;)


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